Crucial domestic-violence lesson at Staten Island's Wagner College

View full sizeStaten Island Advance/Irving SilversteinWagner College senior nursing school students Kaitlyn Llewellyn, left, and Danielle Bianchino listen to the presentation on domestic violence by the Brooklyn district attorney's office.

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- It was "Domestic Violence 101" for Wagner College nursing, physician assistant and pre-med students today.

Health-care professionals are on the front lines of domestic violence incidents and can play key roles in breaking the cycle of abuse.

Two members of Brooklyn District Attorney Charles Hynes' office visited Wagner to tell the students preparing for health careers what they can do when treating domestic violence victims in emergency rooms or hospitals.

The key, according to Assistant District Attorney Robert J. Cherofsky: Take copious notes of injuries and of victim statements. All of it is admissible in court.

"Document everything that is happening," he said. "One of the most important pieces of evidence we have are medical records. They are gold."

That includes describing any injuries in-depth, Cherofsky said, and interviewing the victim about precisely what happened and when, whether there were any witnesses and if a weapon was involved.

Photos of any injuries should also be taken if hospital rules permit, he said.

"If it's a large injury, I want to know it," Cherofsky said. "It really does help us."

The evidence can be used by prosecutors even if the victim doesn't want to press charges against the abuser, he said.

Kasia Kubiak, the Violence Against Women Act program coordinator in Hynes' office, said that domestic abuse is the largest cause of women's visits to the emergency room.

View full sizeStaten Island Advance/Irving SilversteinKasia Kubiak, Victim Services coordinator for the Brooklyn district attorney's office, and Assistant District Attorney Robert Cherofsky speak to Wagner College students.

"You are on the front lines," she told the students. "We want you to be as professional as you can be. You can actually make a difference."

She said that a woman is battered once every 15 seconds, and that 1 in 3 women will be sexually battered by an intimate partner in their lives. Ninety-five percent of incidents involve a male abusing a female, she said.

"There is no escape," she said. "In your profession, you will have to face it."

She said that health professionals need to be aware that abusers use violence to gain power and control. And those in the medical field, she said, must understand that it's not always simple for the victim to just walk away.

"Leaving is dangerous," she said. The victim, Ms. Kubiak said, "should not be judged for this."

But she said that women who contact someone from the medical, social work or law enforcement fields even once have a better chance of surviving than those who don't.

"You have a different set of rules and obligations," she told the students. "I know it might be difficult."

She said medical workers can refer women to social workers or to the city's domestic violence hotline, 800-621-HOPE. But they should not suggest couples counseling or mediation to the victim, she said. And because the victim is the priority, health professionals also should not discuss providing services to the batterer with them.

Those in the class said the lecture was a boon.

"It was incredibly helpful," said Nancy Cherofsky, R.N., assistant professor
of nursing at Wagner. "It's something you don't get out in the field. It
will help patients. That's the bottom line."

Cherofsky, the assistant district attorney, is the professor's son.

Domestic violence cases "are really prevalent" in hospitals, said senior nursing student Danielle Bianchino. "Documentation is very important. I can make a difference."